Tech Support for PC, Apple and Android

Online Remote Computer Support

It seems at odds with what we do – local support – but the convenience and reach of online remote computer support cannot be denied: we can give you live technical assistance almost wherever you are with a couple of clicks. We give remote computer support to Windows and Mac users here in the UK, and as far away as Hong Kong and Singapore.

There are three basic kinds of remote computer support.

Screen sharing. We connect to your computer to see what is on your screen and optionally to control it as if we were sitting in front of it. It is spooky (the experience of watching your mouse cursor move around your screen clicking things by itself is a little unnerving at first), but it can be enormously helpful. We can use it to fix things, to diagnose problems, or to give live computer tuition.

Computer monitoring. We have a permanent link to a computer, server or network, not seeing what is on your screen, but using telemetry to monitor system health and resources. We get alerted by the monitoring software under certain circumstances and will perhaps call you to suggest remedial action.

Phone support. When your internet is too poor to manage the any or all of the above, there is good old phone support. We prefer screen sharing, however, because phone support does place the burden to explain what is happening on a computer screen on the user, and sometimes vocabulary can be tested!

By the way, “remote desktop” support and “screen sharing” are synonymous, and tend to be terms used by Windows or Mac users respectively. Though sometimes the actual sharing technology that is native to each platform may be different, the result is the same. Because with any kind of screen sharing the aim is to resolve computer problems as they arise, or to give live computer training when the lesson will be most apt. As such, it is a powerful, timely intervention tool*. There is a tendency to view remote support as a second rate option to an actual visit by a live local technician, but really it is too good a facility to ignore. It means you can get real help desk IT support without being a big business.

*A word of caution. Never give screen control to anyone who rings you out of the blue to tell you that a problem has been detected on your computer. The technology that scammers and genuine IT support use is one and the same, to wholly different ends. Unless you have a pre-established contract, real techies will never proactively connect to your computer without your permission. And even if you do have a contract, they will not view your screen without asking first. Each connection we make will use a one-time code that will not work a second time.